Colombian president comes down with the swine flu

August 30, 2009

BOGOTA (AP) — President Alvaro Uribe has the swine flu and officials are contacting other South American governments whose leaders attended a summit last week with the Colombian leader, authorities said Sunday.

The 57-year-old Uribe began feeling symptoms Friday, the same day as a meeting of South American presidents in Bariloche, Argentina, and he was confirmed to have swine flu after returning home, Social Protection Minister Diego Palacio said.

“This isn’t something that has us scared,” Palacio said at a news conference. Uribe, a key U.S. ally in Latin America, is not considered a high-risk patient and will continue working from his computer, officials said.

Public health director Gilberto Alvarez said in a telephone interview that there was no need to put the president in isolation and that his condition would monitored for three days to a week.

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No family members or close associates of Uribe have shown swine flu symptoms, officials said.

During a Union of South American Nations summit of the region’s presidents Friday, Uribe spent hours defending his plan to give U.S. troops more access to Colombian bases as part of his government’s fight against drug traffickers and leftist rebels. Many of his colleagues have voiced concerns about the idea.

Palacio said Colombia’s foreign ministry was informing governments whose leaders may have come in contact with Uribe.

No governments immediately reported cases of sick officials.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who attended Friday’s summit, said he felt fine and had recently been tested.

“I regret this and hope there are no repercussions for the president’s health and that nobody else has caught the disease,” said the socialist Chavez, who has had strained relations with Uribe, a conservative.

Dr. Alberto Cortez, an infectious disease specialist at Colombia’s Universidad Nacional, said it is possible the disease could have been passed on to other leaders at the summit. But he added it needs to be established when Uribe became sick to determine whether he picked up the virus in Argentina — where there are many cases — or if he arrived there with the disease.

Uribe is the second Latin American leader to come down with the swine flu.

On Aug. 11, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias announced he had swine flu and was being quarantined at his home. The 69-year-old leader, who won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending Central America’s civil wars, has recovered.

Colombia’s presidential office released a brief statement Sunday saying the country’s National Health Institute confirmed that Uribe had swine flu. It said his case was “developing satisfactorily.”

National Health Institute director, Juan Gonzalo Lopez, said Uribe’s case was confirmed on Sunday and that he had complained of body pains and general discomfort.

Local media said the president appeared congested and was sneezing during a meeting with regional officials Saturday.

Cesar Mauricio Velasquez, spokesman for Uribe, said Uribe planned to handle his duties while recovering.

“The president will continue doing his work by computer,” Velasquez said.

Colombia has reported 621 confirmed cases of swine flu, including Uribe’s. There have been 34 deaths from the illness, the government says.